RE:Show me stockJoey, not to quibble, I agree, at least partially, with much of what you said. However, I'm totally offside on your growth thesis.
ETC and IRD have announced contracts ~$300M in the past 12 months. Kidd, and Hill before, talked to the change order multiplier effect over the term of the agreements, supported by ETC's track record. Unless you want to take the position that it's a lie, I will accept it until proven otherwise. So I anticipate improved margins as the new contracts move through the implementation phase.
Furthermore, it's clear to me that ETC's technology provides a sustainable competitive advantage. It is reasonable that ETC will win more than its fair share of contracts going forward.
The important issues are both margin and margin growth. As QTRH continues it’s transition to pure-play ITS, to say that Wilanesque IP investors understood the ITS business is nothing but fantasy. Most are learning, certainly I am. The promise of a >15% CAGR over the next 5 years seems both reasonable and achievable, but many, me included, did not fully understand the hoops and time frame to reach the long term 15% EBIDTA goal.
Everything else is chatter and irrelevant, except the value to be secured for the Wilan asset. In the end though, it will be what it will be - I do not believe that no transaction is an acceptable outcome to anybody. Stout is an excellent choice to lead the initiative; I am very pleased that management chose to avoid the usual cast of broker vultures and select a partner with a track record in the IP transaction space (an aside, this might be what dislocated Canaccord’s nose).